Dean Blundell Out at The Fan 590, Greg Brady Back In

The Dean Blundell era at The Fan 590 is over after two years. Starting February 27, Greg Brady is back doing mornings at his old station. You may recall he and Andrew Walker were bumped from mornings to afternoons to make room for Blundell. Brady was subsequently let go in February.

I will share my thoughts on this change, but I must preface it by making two things very, very clear. Firstly, I have no personal issue with Dean Blundell. In fact, I invited him over to record an episode of Toronto Mike'd because I thought it was only fair to hear his side of things after recording episodes with Todd Shapiro, Jason Barr, Blind Derek Welsman, Billie Holiday and Dani Stover. Dean politely declined the invitation.

Furthermore, I haven't actually heard Dean Blundell's morning show on 590. I've received plenty of feedback, and read a great deal about it, but without a commute I don't listen to any morning radio except some Metro Morning in the shower.

I can tell you I thought this move was curious from the start. It seemed The Fan 590 wanted a slice of Blundell's big 102.1 ratings, but they sold it as a kinder, gentler Blundell. The likelihood his 102.1 listeners would follow him to an AM all-sports station where he was "reprogrammed" was slim.

I knew they'd give him a long look, however, and wouldn't make any quick decisions to cancel the show. Two years sounds about right. This decision was likely made in the spring when he was under a 7 share and the Raptors made the conference final, the Blue, Jays were defending AL East champs and the Leafs won the draft lottery.

As for Greg Brady, we've become rather friendly since he visited my home in 2014. I've called him for advice when I was cycling in the Ride to Conquer Cancer and we've kept in touch. As often happens when I record with guests, I've come to quite like the guy and I'm glad he's getting another shot. In essence, like Rogers did with Ron MacLean, a wrong has been righted. Brady never should have lost the morning show to Blundell in the first place.

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I do commute and have listened to Dean most mornings for at least a segment or two. Not horrible but definitely not as good as Brady and Walker were before he replaced them. And i did switch away faster if he was going of on one of his tangents or talking about i sport i don't care about at all. Something that i don't do quite so fast if the hosts are engaging enough.

I like Brady and i'm pretty glad he's coming back. I do recall quite a bit of criticism from some Toronto Mike posters when he was fired i wonder how they will feel now.

That's too bad while I despised him on 102.1 I've grown to like the more mature persona on 590. Sure, he is not a pure sportscaster, but his show was a refreshing change from the norm. They talk about the same stuff all day and there are plenty of other 590 shows you could tune into if you were that hard core. I for one will miss his humour on the drive to work.

I'm a gay black woman and I love Dean, people need to relax and learn not to take everything so seriously. It's not the people that Dean pokes fun at that get offended, its people that feel they need to make a big deal out of everything. The "do gooders"

"The old Blundell, as heard on 102.1 the Edge, often went at Rob Ford in a similar vein.

For what it's worth, both Ford and Trump deserved as much."

Getting a little too Libtard Mikey Boy.
If Rob Ford were alive, he would get voted back in tomorrow... despite faults.

isn't being a hypocrite wonderful?? See, if you are a leftist, and have a substance abuse problem - It is considered a disease - BUT - If you are conservative or anyone who does not follow your leftist ideology & have a substance abuse problem - You are absolute SCUM!

Rob had a substance abuse issue. He needed help. He lied - Show me an addict who hasn't. You were so big on the hashtag #BellLetsTalk day... As I recall. Many people who have mental illness, are substance abuse users.

The Toronto media hounded the entire Ford family - including the wife and kids. Camping out 24/7 at their home. Trespassing on their private property.

Just kick a man, while he is dead some more... eh Mikey Boy??
You pretty much wished the man dead. Multiple times!

You're just making a shitload of self-serving assumptions. And over-simplifying left vs. right.

From my perspective, using your framing, lefties were sympathetic to Ford's substance abuse problems, but didn't think he should be mayor while dealing with them. I feel they would also not want a left-leaning politician in office under those conditions either. And to counter you, can you name an example where a substance-abusing left-wing politician hasn't been criticised for staying in power while dealing with demons like these?

Further, screw off badgering Mike. He wasn't even referring to Ford's personal problems -- he was referring to Ford's policy, which like Trump's, is fully open to criticism.

I, for one, am happy that Blundell is gone - why? I was HUGE fan up until his demise at the Edge, and I tried my hardest to listen to the Fan, but it was too much sports (haha). I hope he goes to Satellite. He is a true radio legend, he needs to be on the air. I think 590 will lose a lot of fanbase, as I'm sure a lot of people started listening because of Dean. Now, as someone else pointed out, there will be a couple talking heads that ONLY hardcore sports people know, and who are a dime a dozen. Get Dean back, get Psychic NIkki back, Adrian, Gay Geoff, Meatus, Chi Minh Cheng....Dean needs his old format back. Make Toronto Radio Great Again!

I am one of those that would likely be referred to as a hardcore sports radio listener. Listen whenever I have the chance. Have to say that I really liked Blundell. More than anyone else I have heard on sports radio he was funny. He could be pretty entertaining along with George. I never really found Walker and Brady very interesting or humorous. Big fan of Landry though. Just my two cents.

Mike are you really comparing brady with Ron Mclean????? one is a broadcast icon the other is a verbose self centered boob. I for one, will never ever listen to that hack. This is so typical of the fan, lets bring somebody back who already failed miserably. I give him 18 months max. Brady and Lang were so bad, virtually impossible to listen, and I dont know who was worse because you couldnt tell the difference. He is a ham and egger...

Mike you have obviously let your personal relationship skew your opinion, you admit to not listening to any morning radio so how can you even have an informed opinion? I think youre out of your realm in this discussion...

This is shit news. Dean was great -- not exactly the most knowledgeable sports guy, but hell, he was entertaining and funny. There were many times I would want him to stop going off on one of his tangents, but it almost added to the entertainment value. He was a perfect morning guy -- give me the news from last night, make it funny and engaging. The real sports opinions are found on the way home with Prime Time. I won't be listening to any of it anymore. Brady is no more an expert than Blundell and he's as funny as a tumor.

I disclosed all of that so you could take the opinions for what they're worth. I don't know if Blundell was good or bad in the mornings at 590, but I am of the opinion that they shouldn't have replaced Brady and Walker to begin with.

@toronto mike, I respect your opinions, but if you never listened to either show how can you say brandy and walker should never have been replaced? I just cant grasp the idea of having an opinion about a show with no first hand listening experience...

So, Blundell is out and Mike Richards is telling fans to wait for an announcement soon? Hope Brady doesn't get too comfortable.
Also hope that 590 does well enough that 1050 makes a change. A choice would be nice and I would rather listen to the emergency broadcast test than what is currently being offered!

Blair and McKown are successful because of the long form interview that can't be done on the morning show.
Add the fact that the guests and listeners could see through Blundell with his limited sports knowledge and know his back story, this was a no brainer.
I think his audience had splintered after his days at the Edge and they aren't regrouping anytime soon!

As for the re-hire of Brady...it didn't work the first time, won't work again. Unless Brady's had an overhaul in his character he cannot make that morning show go. Fan is in deep trouble once Bobcat retires.

I am truly upset with his decision. Dean wasn't the most knowledgeable sports show host but man was he entertaining! Brady and Lang talk WAY too much hockey and had no humor to their style I can recall. I actually switched to Mike Richards Morning show for this reason only to switch back to the Fan when they hired Dean... but now where do I go?? I can't go to tsn morning show because all Lansberg knows is hockey. I can't get away from these puckheads it seems. Smh.

I didn't know Dean's work before the 590 show,so I was listening to someone "new".I think he was great on the show and well, Brady is not my cup of tea , so I for one will miss the show.I am sure Dean will resurface somewhere,but he leaves a hole in the morning on the Fan.

I didn't know Dean's work before the 590 show,so I was listening to someone "new".I think he was great on the show and well, Brady is not my cup of tea , so I for one will miss the show.I am sure Dean will resurface somewhere,but he leaves a hole in the morning on the Fan.

Well, I don't know how my trainer will feel about this. He liked him. I'll have to ask my trainer. I listened to him once and I didn't think he was great at all, but maybe my trainer will be sad so I'll ask if he knows that Dean is gone.

Shitty. I liked Dean and listened in the morning. I thought he was funny and entertaining, except when he made fun of my Habs lol. Oh well guess I'll have to find something else to listen to in the morning. Never cared much for Brady.

I was very unhappy when I tuned in this morning and found the DBS gone. I became a regular listener during my morning commute because the show had something extra with Dean and George - personality and humour. If he is gone, then so am I. Sorry, but pure sports blather is a dime a dozen and not enough to keep me interested.

I was never really a fan of Greg Brady. He is very knowledgeable but I found him condescending and rude at times and he seemed to really miss living in the U.S and often defended USA over Canada on many fronts or at least that is how it sounded to me.

In fact when the Fan moved Greg Brady to the morning, I stopped listening and I started listening to John Moore or Metro Morning and I will stick to that.

Wasn't a huge fan of Blundell on the fan, but morning radio feels like such a wasteland right now. I tuned into his show for short periods of time but I always end up listening to AM640 hoping there is an interesting issue. I guess I'm permanently 640 now

I'll preface this with saying, since I got XM in the car I rarely listen to Toronto Specific ad based radio besides 680. I used to listen to 102.1 in the morning but found that it went downhill after Jason left, not so much that Jason was the best part but the 3 core players had good chemistry that went away after Barr left.

The few episodes of Blundell's show I did listen to I actually didn't mind. Blundell is a half decent talker and seemed more at ease letting his co-hosts and guests talk then he ever was at 102.1 where everything felt like a bit. I get that when you look up baggage in the dictionary a picture of Dean's smug smile is staring you back on the page, but take that history away and you had a good, not great host who wasn't too bad at getting out of the way and refereeing the conversation around him.

I think 590 tried to change the formula a little bit to appeal to somebody out of their core demographic and didn't get the bang for their buck they wanted. I don't necessarily think it is a bad thing to have a 'regular' host surrounded with Sports Heads as occasionally the more sports oriented guys tend to get inside themselves a bit.

We cry out for outside the box thinking (ie. Andi Petrillo is brilliant on Leafs Lunch, something you would not have seen 5 to 10 years ago) but then also critical when it feels different.

Brady will be a good host. I like him too, but now there's nothing really to differentiate the morning on 590.

Disappointing news...Dean, George and Ryan brought a nice mix of sports, entertainment and humour to the morning drive. Now we'll be stuck with the arrogant Greg Brady and his non stop 1980's pop culture references

Brady back in the morning, I would rather get my teeth drilled than list to that arrogant jerk back on the airwaves. I was a dedicated FAN listener from the early years and switched largely due to his being added to the morning show. Oh well, no reason to return,

I didn't mind the show, too much politics, not enough sports had be turn away often. 1050 just sucks, terrible morning show. Dean may have not known alot about sports but he knew less about world politics, or his listeners demographic. Not of fan of Brady's, think he talks about his cats alot..

@torontomike if brady was such a great morning man, they never would replace him, they had stellick on for years and he is completely useless... the next executive in charge will try something new... its the nature of radio...

Not a fan of Trump or Ford, but as all politicians go there is give and take.
Blundell, like Brady could not gain any traction. Morning Toronto radio is dog eat dog.
Lets face it, with so many other options, Bradys time is and will be limited.

but what else would expect with rogers... they have nothing but contempt for their audience...this is a company that went all in with nhl hockey and chose paul romanuk and kevin quinn to be there go to play by play guys! these guys are low level types with no business at the nhl level.. nevermind doing leaf and connor mcdavid (oiler) games... vast majority of feedback on those two is hilariously negative...

For example, Erin Davis was fired from CHFI so they could bring in Maddog and Billie but CHFI soon realized the error of their ways and hired her back.

It happened with Bob McCown on The Fan. He was fired from mornings and re-hired for afternoons shortly thereafter.

It happens quite a bit with the same company. For example, Bell Media will fire Maddog from Virgin 999 and replace him with some guy named Tucker but they'll re-hire him for their AM station, Newstalk 1010.

And sometimes, people retire and come back..... twice... now if only I could come up with a good, recent example of this....

Rather listen to cats in heat than Brady or Walker. They are both awful and surprised they are still on the air.
Both Brady and walker jibber jab as if they are complaining to there wives, who wants to hear that??

Too bad. Hiring Dean brought me back to the Fan, now that he's gone, so am I. The press release says they want hosts with extensive sports knowledge? If that's true, how can they possibly employ the likes of John Shannon, a blabbering idiot who knows literally nothing, and Andrew Walker, who just likes to hear himself talk?? The fact that condescending as McCown still has a job is equally shocking. Dean and George did things at a superficial level, sure, but mixing it with the right amount of humour was perfect for the early morning drive to work, and their interviews were great.

Shannon knows a lot about the business and broadcast side, and he's often the voice of reason when McCown gets cranky. He also doesn't try to hot take and bloviate his way through his lack of actual game knowledge; god knows that's rare in this day and age.

Are McCown's ratings really that big Mike? Honestly asking-no snark. I always assumed he *was* the top rated, but that was a relative term with weak competition.

I think it's kinda sad that we keep having to recycle these substandard radio hosts. Who's next? Andrew Krystal?
Brady is terrible. Can never finish a sentence without some cheap pop culture reference. Boring.
Thank golly for Podcasts of the oNeill Hayes show on TSn.

Replacing Blundell was a step forward. Re-hiring Brady is two steps back.

If Cadeau is in, "re-place, re-use, re-cycle mode", why not Landry?

Brady was/is and remains, un-listenable.
A leopard doesn't change his spots, and we're not even 1 yr on from him getting shown the door from the same station & PD,….. he's still the same Brady!

I listen to the radio to be either informed or entertained, neither is accomplished when the talking head is smug and arrogant.
I hate his voice, and when he winds himself up about a topic, he sounds like a 13 yr old girl.
I don't give a fat rat's ass about Detroit, or his experiences in Detroit.
He takes forever to spit his question out, and then just when you think he's asked a question, he then answers the question, leaving his "guest" wondering what to say.
His faux outrage wears thin, fast; and his phony contrarian arguments are just not worth listening to.

Sports talk radio in Toronto is swirling the bowl.

Another example was TSN's Hamilton affiliate, 1150, they aired Jim Rome's show from CBS sports yesterday afternoon. If that isn't scrapping the bottom of the heap, but makes one helluva statement from TSN, "we have no local talent worth listening to, so listen to this crap imported from the US of A."

With Blundell gone TSN morning radio is just as bad or worse.
Brady has to change to keep moving forward as brutal in previous.
TSN morning show is like driving an 18 wheeler with NO TIRES over the cliff as Burkie would say.
Both sports radio stns. have to look for the future.
A band aid doesn't fix a mortal wound.
Hire an overall sports person who knows all.
Dan Shulman would be the best, but good luck hiring him.

Dean Blundell was not a good fit on a sports station, and on Twitter right now he's admitting that. I did not like his schtick on 102.1 for what it is worth. I did not care for Greg Brady either, and I doubt I will this time around. My mornings usually consist of Biggs and Barr on 97.7, with maybe switching over to the Fan once Blundell is done for the day...then switching back to 97.7 when Andrew Walker comes on...and then returning to the Fan once McCown hits the airwaves. When Tim and Sid were on the air, I'd listen to the Fan for six hours straight.

I never listened to Mike Richards' show in the past but the episode in the summer made me wish I had. I wonder what his announcement will be next week.

I didn't mind Dean on the Fan, he grew on me and I was tuning in everyday,especially once Richards lost the morning show on TSN. Now with Brady back, not a frigging chance. Oh yeah, can't wait for those old Detroit stories and once Brady gets done with that, here comes the Western U ones. Brady is an arrogant ass and is the smartest guy in the room, and if you don't believe it, just wait, Brady will tell you. What a mess the Fan has become!

Right now only Blair and McCown are worth listening to, Brady, Walker, no dice.

I hope the Edge brings back Dean because if there is a station lost at sea, it's the Edge. Dean needs to go back home.

Your thoughts on this move will depend on the type of show you want to hear in the morning. If you want to be entertained, you will probably prefer Dean Blundell. If you prefer a more traditional sports show, you will probably prefer Greg Brady.
Personally, I am glad that Brady has been re-hired. Because I work the night shift, I sleep during the day and am unable to listen to the more traditional sports shows on The Fan, unless I podcast the other shows.

Well, my trainer didn't know where Dean Blundell was. I told him he had left and he couldn't believe it and I said Greg Brady will take his place and he said it wasn't Greg Brady this morning, it was Roger Lajoie and someone else, I forget. My trainer said Dean was entertaining and he will miss him.

I actually preferred Dean on the FAN590 compared to his days at 102.1. I thought he was going to be unlistenable, but was pleasantly surprised. Regarding his lack of sports knowledge, I could have cared less. That was the value all the guests (Maclean, JP Morosi, etc) bring every day. It will be interesting to see his next move.

Bringing Brady back is interesting. I found that I definitely soured on the Brady/Walker dynamic and I've enjoyed Walker a lot more in his own slot. I did feel that Brady got the short end of the stick and hope he does well. We'll see.

Fan590 hiring Blundell would be like ESPN hiring Rosie O'Donnell - - terrible fit that made ZERO sense. Much like Stromboulopous trying to host hockey night in Canada. Totally out of their element and in way over their heads.

I never listened to the Edge so I had never listened to Dean before he came to the FAN. I really enjoyed listening to him, George and Ryan when I wanted to listen to a sports station on the drive to work. I had tried 1050 and it's still not my cup of tea. It's time to bring back Landry and Hogan!!!

He simply did not know sports well enough. And he liked the sound of his own voice too much--it was not uncommon for him to preface a question with 30 seconds of babble.

He compelled me to move over to Talk 640 and John Oakley for my morning drive. Did that for about a year, but when Oakley was moved to the afternoon slot I reluctantly went back to Blundell in the morning. Whoever, they bring in will be an upgrade.

@Stephen I wouldn't be so hard on TSN 1150. I think they've changed their relationship to working with CBS Sports Radio instead of ESPN. They used to air Mike&Mike in the morning (which I quite enjoyed) and had local guys on at lunch, but now they're doing local guys in the morning, Tatti and Marsh in the drive home, and they've put Rome on at lunch. Might make more sense for them to focus on Mornings and Drive Time. Sometimes Tatti and Marsh are a good alternative to McCown / Overdrive / WGR550.

@Brian in Burlington
Good comments.
I was listening regularly to 1150, Mike & Mike, then Dan Patrick's show. Add in local updates for news, weather & traffic, I was all set. Then they changed. So now I'm back to Sirius for Mike & Mike, and Dan Patrick.

I'm self employed. I like radio, sports & music.
When I travel for work (frequently) I research radio stations to listen to.
So the radio's always on, all the vehicles, at home, in the shop, at the cottage, on the boat.
My kids "pay" my subscription as my father's day or birthday gifts. They also have bought me extra docking stations. Now they are starting to tune in on sirius as they've "discovered" stations that play what they want to listen to - my household is abandoning conventional radio because programming is shit, everywhere. Good people getting fired, more ads, less talent.
sorry for the tangent/rant .....

For my time & listening, the only worthwhile show on CBSSports is Amy Lawrence.
Rome's in love with his voice. And once you listen to Amendolara, or Ferral, you'll never listen to them again.

Agree that Tatti & Marsh are good alternatives; Tatti's a pro. Always prepared and always solid.

Why TSN hasn't pitched a nationally syndicated Sports Talk Radio show speaks to their total disregard of sports talk radio. The infrastructure is already in place, no shortage of content. Tatti's a perfect choice as one of the co-hosts. The other co-host would be well worth the truck load of money it would take to land him, Dan Shulman. Let Shulman continue with his ESPN commitments for basketball and baseball - win/win. Create a third chair for a guest host that rotates, based on seasons & sports.

But then again, I'm speaking to TSN and creative programming, which of course is Bell, a phone company, populated by bean counters.

Too bad Burrill didn't go back to City. Maybe he is fairly smart, actually! It is the worst news/sports ever; with all the cuts at Rogers, when the sports lady (Danielle) is away or sick "anyone" fills in incl. weather person (note, not specialist) Stella fills in. City will always be a perennial #3 in ratings (I did ratings for years), and after Gord left (finally!, like Ingrid, his time was up), I asked someone who confirmed my suspicion, he didn't care about ratings - you can tell!). They don't send a reporter to games, or on the road, they cover tennis vs. Leafs about 3-1. It is absolutely awful. Peterson - what a dufous - jokes around, forgets his lines, can't recover - absolutely a bush league News station. Why am I still watching it? LOL. Can't believe Rick Brace, President of Rogers Media, and a very smart and successful person, can't see how bad City's News/sports has deteriorated.

I actually liked that Dean was about as clued up as the normal guy who is talking sports. That's what I want to hear in the morning, not some self-indulgent, arrogant little reprobate like Greg Brady. That said, thankfully it is Brady taking over and not that Andrew Walker clown shoe.

This finally happened! Blundell, while much blunted compared to his last days on Edge, never delivered any profound insight on Toronto sports scene. I loved Brady in the mornings and very happy he returns with what looks like a very qualified pair of co-hosts.

Never cared much for Blundel, as mentioned many times previously, he just wasn't a knowledgeable enough sports show host.
Didn't much like Brady and Walker too though. There were times when they argued like a pair of pre-pubescent high school kids about the dumbest irrelevant things. I don't find that entertaining, as I'm long past my teens. I want to listen to informed, mature dialogue, commentary, interviews etc. Not teenager arguments.
Rogers needs to identify their audience and program accordingly.

So, to recap; is a rehash of Brady and Walker the best you got??????????????

I've listened to Greg since he was with Bill Water and I think he does his job well and I say this while admitting i don't always agree with his take on things but it is at least his opinion is thought out congrats to him.

As for Blundell I was surprised to learn of his hiring in the first place and found myself cringing during his adaptations of "what's wrong with you" call in segments for tickets or his more recent "fail of the day" sometimes it was hard to listen to. None the less good luck to him.

hmmm brady, lang, walker, richards, hogan, wheeler, cauz, roger lagoie, landry, stellick... what a non descript, boring, vanilla identical group of hacks. the level of mediocrity is staggering in toronto sports media..these guys are all the same... buffalo has much more talent spear headed by schoop and bulldog on wgr at 3 and jerry sullivan and vic carucci opposite them.. real entertainment and information..

I have never listened to a radio talk show in 40 years, except sway in the morning on satellite the very odd time, but came across the Blundell show a year or more ago and I listened every morning I was in my car driving, which was atleast four mornings per week. I actually looked forward to it! It completely sucks that it's off the air.

I liked Dean Blundell. Sure, he wasn't the greatest in sports analysis and knowledge, but I think his knowledge of sports was sufficient. Besides, a lot of "sports analysts" don't always have the right things to say either. Moreover, he wasn't always as politically correct when it came to politics and other things, which I thought was a bit refreshing. Overall, I thought he did well, I liked the guests he would bring, and he was one of the few radio hosts that would literally make me "laugh out loud." Not a very good move in my opinion.

You Brady supporters must be family members because he has to be the absolute worst broadcaster ever! Christ when they have Walker another show I thought Sportsnet was off there rocker!
He wasn't great but he was a breath of fresh air compared to Brady. George Rusic, leaps and bounds better then Brady and Walker. Way to go Sportsnet, way to fuck it up again!